Flyers captain Claude Giroux isn’t leaving Philadelphia any time soon, Danny Briere is heading home to his native Quebec, and Patrik Elias is staying in New Jersey.

And leave it to the Boston Bruins and Dallas Stars to steal the headlines yesterday by completing a blockbuster trade a day before the start of the NHL’s free-agency period. In exchanging seven players, the rebuilding Stars acquired forwards Tyler Seguin and Rich Peverley in exchange for veteran forward Loui Eriksson.

The trade should benefit the Bruins in their approach to free agency. They were able to clear about $4.75 million in space under the salary cap.

Otherwise, the list of high-profile free agents continued to shrink even before the official signing period begins at noon today. Briere and Elias became the latest to be taken off a market that’s already minus Vincent Lecavalier, who signed with Philadelphia on Tuesday.

The Flyers weren’t done making splashes, either. A person familiar with negotiations said that Giroux agreed to an eight-year contract extension worth more than $64 million.

The deal came as Giroux was entering the final year of his contract and with the Flyers in the midst of reshaping a team that missed the playoffs last season. A two-time 25-goal scorer, Giroux is the Flyers’ top play-making offensive threat. He had 13 goals and 35 assists in 48 games last season.

Briere wasted little time finding a new team, signing a two-year, $8 million contract with the Montreal Canadiens. It’s a homecoming of sorts for the French Canadian, who grew up in Gatineau, Quebec, and spent his junior career in Drummondville. Briere, a seven-time 25-goal scorer, became a free agent after the Flyers bought out the two remaining years on his contract.

The Devils re-signed Elias to a three-year, $16.5 million deal, locking up the franchise’s career goals and points leader before he was eligible to test the market. He has spent his entire 15-year career with the Devils, during which he has amassed 375 goals and 555 assists for 930 points in 1,090 career games.

New Jersey also re-signed veteran forward Dainius Zubrus to a three-year, $9.3 million contract.

Defenseman Keith Ballard didn’t wait long to find a new team. Not long after Vancouver bought out the final two years of his contract, Ballard agreed to a two-year deal with Minnesota.

Other teams were busy taking advantage of their final chance to free up salary-cap space.

Toronto forward Mikhail Grabovski headed a list of five players who were placed on unconditional waivers so their contracts could be bought out.

“It was not an easy decision to make, as Mikhail made numerous contributions to our hockey club,” Toronto general manager Dave Nonis said. “This is a roster move that will give us salary-cap flexibility moving forward.”

The Maple Leafs’ decision to waive Grabovski came after they signed him to a five-year, $27.5 million contract in March.

Players whose contracts are bought out on compliance buyouts don’t count against the salary cap. They do receive two-thirds of their remaining salary, spread out over double the years left on the deals.

The Maple Leafs’ decision to free up cap space is a clear sign that they intend to be aggressive in free agency to continue improving a team coming off its first playoff appearance since 2004.

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